LD pumped Nd: YAG microchip lasers

A new experimental result obtained for the first time about LD pumped Nd: YAG microchip lasers in China is presented. The output power reached 62.5mW, when the input power was 340mW. The optical efficiency was 18%. The experimental setup and the unique characteristics of the laseers are given and discussed.     

Diode pumped injection seeded Nd:YAG laser

Diode pumped, injection seeded single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) Nd:YAG laser is achieved through buildup time minimizing technique in Q-switching operation. Pulses with energy of 20 mJ are obtained at a repetition rate of 100 Hz. Mx2 and My2 are 1.41 and 1.38, respectively.     

2.1μm Ho：LuAG ceramic laser intracavity pumped by a diode-pumped Tm：YAG laser

We report a compact Ho：LuAG ceramic laser intracavity pumped by a diode-pumped Tm：YAG ceramic laser. The laser oscillation is accomplished by using a common linear cavity configuration containing Tm：YAG and Ho：LuAG ceramics. The 1.0 at.% Ho：LuAG ceramic laser yields 1.15 W of maximum output simultaneously at 2094 and 2100 nm with a beam quality factor of M2-2.8.     

Efficient Ho : YAG laser pumped by a cladding-pumped tunable Tm : silica-fibre laser

Highly efficient room-temperature operation of a Ho:YAG laser end pumped by a cladding-pumped tunable Tm-doped silica-fibre laser operating at 1905 nm is reported. Using a simple two-mirror resonator configuration, we obtained 6.4 W of unpolarized output at 2097 nm in a diffraction-limited TEM₀₀ beam (with M²1.1) for 9.6 W of incident pump power, corresponding to a slope efficiency with respect to incident pump power of 80% and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 67%. Using a folded-resonator configuration incorporating a Brewster-angled glass plate, we obtained 5.8 W of linearly polarized TEM₀₀ output, corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 60%. Due to low quantum defect heating, the depolarization loss due to thermally induced birefringence in the Ho:YAG crystal was <0.14% at the maximum available pump power, indicating that there is scope for further power scaling. PACS 42.55.-f; 42.55.Xi; 42.55.Wd; 42.60.Pk     

Passive Q-switching of 1.44 μm and 1.34 μm diode-pumped Nd:YAG lasers with a V:YAG saturable absorber

Spectroscopic data of a V³⁺:YAG passive Q-switch crystal were measured. The absorption recovery time was determined to be of 37±7 ns and the ground state absorption cross section was estimated to be 0.7×10^-18 cm² at 1.44 μm and 3.5×10^-18 cm² at 1.34 μm. Passively Q-switched operation of diode pumped 1.44 μm and 1.3 μm Nd:YAG lasers was demonstrated using this crystal as saturable absorber. Average output powers of 1.42 W (1.44 μm) and 1.56 W (1.34 μm) and pulse energies of 24 μJ (1.44 μm) and 25 μJ (1.34 μm) were observed, respectively. Received: 19 August 2002 / Published online: 12 February 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +49-40/42838-6281, E-mail: kretschmann@physnet.uni-hamburg.de     

The Q-switched Nd : YAG and Yb : YAG microchip lasers optimization and comparative analysis

The microchip lasers based on the neodymium or the ytterbium doped yttrium-aluminium garnet crystal and Q-sw itched by the Cr⁴⁺:YAG film are considered. The optimal (maximizing of energy) values of the pumping beam radius, the absorber parameters (the thickness and tetravalent chromium ion concentration), and the output mirror reflectivity are determined. The possibility of higher values of energy in the Yb:YAG laser pulse, in comparison with a more traditional Nd:YAG laser, is also substantiated. PACS 42.60.Gd     

Passive Q-switching of Pulsed and CW Nd: YAG Lasers with Cr~(4 ): YAG

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A 45-μJ, 10-kHz,burst-mode picosecond optical parametric oscillator synchronously pumped at a second harmonic cavity

A novel high-energy picosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) was realized by placing an OPO in a second-harmonic (SH) cavity. In a proof-of-principle experiment, we demonstrated excellent burst energy of 45 μJ for the OPO signal at 900 nm that operates at a pulse repetition rate of 10 kHz and a pulse width of 46.8 ps. The beam quality was measured as $M^{2}_{x} = 1.44$ and $M^{2}_{y} = 1.40$ in the orthogonal directions, corresponding to an average beam factor $M^{2} = 1.42$. So far, this study is the first to investigate high-energy ps OPO synchronously pumped in a second-harmonic cavity.     

High repetition rate,Q-switched Ho:YAG laser resonantly pumped by a 20 W linearly polarized Tm: fiber laser

We describe an efficient, low-threshold, continuous-wave (CW) and Q-switched operation of a Ho:YAG laser resonantly, single-pass pumped by a 20 W linearly polarized narrow line width Tm: fiber laser at the wavelength of 1,908 nm. At room temperature for an output coupler of 30 % transmission, a maximum continuous-wave output power of 13.3 W for 18.9 W of absorbed pump power was achieved, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 73 %. In a quasi continuous-wave pumping regime, for several output couplers slope efficiencies of almost 82 % were observed. For a Q-switched operation, a Brewster-cut acousto-optic modulator was used. In a CW pumping regime, the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) was changed from 4 to 15 kHz. Under a Q-switched operation, the maximum output power of 12.25 W in relation to 15 kHz PRF was obtained; however, the maximum peak power of almost 250 kW at the PRF of 4 kHz was demonstrated. In the best case, for 4 kHz PRF, pulse energies of 2.18 mJ with a 8.8 ns FWHM pulse width (one of the shortest pulse durations observed in holmium-doped Q-switched lasers) were achieved. The laser operated at the wavelength of 2,090.23 nm with the FWHM line width of 0.95 nm. The beam quality factor of M ² was measured to be below 1.42 in both X and Y axis.     

Theoretical and experimental investigations of nanosecond 177.3 nm deep-ultraviolet light by second harmonic generation in KBBF

We have presented theoretical and experimental investigations of nanosecond (ns) deep-ultraviolet (DUV) 177.3 nm radiation by means of second harmonic generation (SHG) from a frequency-tripled Nd:YAG laser (355 nm, 49 ns and 10 kHz) in KBe₂BO₃F₂ (KBBF) nonlinear crystal for the first time. A DUV KBBF-SHG numerical model, accounting for linear absorption, pump depletion, beam spatial birefringent walk-off and diffraction, is performed in the Gaussian approximation of spatial and temporal profiles. In the experiment, a maximum average output power of 14.1 mW at 177.3 nm was obtained. The dependence of 177.3 nm output power on the 355 nm pump power was simulated. The calculated results are in good agreement with the measured data. We used the model further to investigate the optical conversion efficiency, pulse width, beam spatial intensity profile and beam quality factor of the generated 177.3 nm light, in particular the effect of beam birefringent walk-off.     

Surface behaviour and undercooling in the liquid Ga—Bi binary system detected by optical second harmonic generation

We employ an optical second harmonic generation(SHG) technique to investigate the surface behaviours at the liquid(solid)/vapour interface of the Ga-Bi binary metallic system. In a heating and cooling cycle between 280℃ and room temperature, there is no change of the SH-intensity in the heating process, whereas there exists an abrupt and abnormal change of the SH-intensity in the cooling process. It is interesting to find that a macroscopic Bi-rich solid layer is floating on the surface of the Ga-rich liquid phase just below the monotectic temperature (222℃±2℃) in the cooling process, in spite of the Bi-rich phase being heavier than the Ga-rich phase. On the other hand, different undercooling behaviours are observed at the surface and in the bulk. The behaviours of surface solidification and surface melting are different from those in the bulk.     

3.6-W cryogenic Tm,Ho:YLF laser pumped by fiber-coupled diodes module

In this paper, we report a high power cryogenic cooling Tm(6 at.-%),Ho(0.5 at.-%):YLF laser end-pumped by a 19-fiber-coupled-diodes module with the central wavelength of 792 nm at 20°. The highest continuous-wave power of 3.6 W at 2.051 μm is attained under pumping power of 13.6 W, corresponding to optical-optical conversion efficiency of 26%, and the slope efficiency is larger than 30%. The threshold power is only about 0.16 W because of the long lifetime, large effective emission cross section, and low re-absorption in Tm,Ho:YLF crystal.     

Dark blue erenkov second harmonic generation in the two-layer-stacked hexagonal periodically poled MgO:LiNbO_3s

We report the dark blue nonlinearˇCerenkov radiation by the second harmonic generation(SHG)in a two-layer-stacked hexagonal periodically-poled-MgO:LiNbO3s(PPMgOLNs).Based on the direct wafer bonding of two target PPMgOLNs rotating around the axis perpendicular to the plane with an angle of 30°,twelve bright spots as twice of those in a single PPMgOLN are shown at each second-harmonicˇCerenkov ring.The experimental results agree with the theoretical ones and present a promising application in the fabrication of three-dimensional(3D)PPMgOLNs.     

高功率Cr,Tm,Ho:YAG激光器的实验研究

在医学应用上,Cr,Tm,HoYAG激光器需要在大功率、高重频下工作.合理的设计对提高Cr,Tm,HoYAG激光器的输出功率是很重要的.通过对Cr,Tm,HoYAG输出特性进行理论分析和实验验证可知,腔长、全反射镜曲率半径、输出镜透过率、水温等因素对Cr,Tm,HoYAG激光器的输出功率均有影响.提出了优化设计Cr,Tm,HoYAG激光器的方法.在镀银腔情况下,当重频为10Hz时,激光阈值为45J,斜效率为1.1%;当输入能量为121J时,输出的平均功率为9.7W.在陶瓷聚光腔情况下,当重频为10Hz时,激光阈值为40J,斜效率为2.7%;当输入能量为100J时,输出的平均功率为16.2W.     

Modified Maxwell–Wagner model analysis on charging and discharging in TIPS-pentacene diode by optical second harmonic generation measurement

We used time-resolved electric field induced optical second harmonic generation (TR-EFISHG) measurement and Maxwell–Wagner (MW) equivalent circuit model analysis to study the charging and discharging processes of ITO/Polyimide/6,13-Bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)-pentacene/Au (ITO/PI/TIPS-pentacene/Au) diodes. For fresh diodes, electrode charging was followed successively by interfacial charging, whereas interfacial discharging occurred very quickly in combination with electrode discharging. In contrast, the order of charging and discharging was reversed for aged diodes. A modified MW equivalent circuit well accounts for these results, where TIPS-pentacene functions as a dielectric material before hole injection, but as a conductor after hole injection. As a result, the accumulated interfacial charge can escape very quickly from the TIPS-pentacene together with electrode discharging. These results illustrate the non-reversal behavior of the fresh TIPS-pentacene diodes.     

Effects of spatial hole burning in 888?nm pumped, passively mode-locked high-power Nd:YVO4 lasers

We report on an experimental study of 888?nm pumped, passively mode-locked, high-power Nd:YVO₄ lasers with an enhanced cavity design, involving spatial hole burning (SHB) in the active medium. We observed a significant pulse shortening due to the concept of ??Gain-at-the end,?? despite using long gain length up to 30?mm. A?31.6?W average output power TEM₀₀ Nd:YVO₄ oscillator, providing 16.2?ps pulses at an repetition rate of 96?MHz is presented. The pulse duration turns out to be primarily a function of the effective gain length, which can be explained by means of SHB. A?further pulse shortening with decreasing gain length down to 9.5?ps at 11.1?W average output power is demonstrated.     

Study on energy up-conversion in Yb, Ho:YAG crystal

Optic parameters, such as the probabilities of radiative and non-radiative transition and the cross-relaxation probability between Yb3+ and Ho3+ ions in Yb,Ho:YAG crystal, are calculated on the basis of Judd-Ofelt and Dexter theories. The energy up-conversion process is analyzed by solving the transition rate-equations. The results show that (1) the intensity of the green fluorescence relates to the square of the concentration of the active ions; (2) the intensity increases with the concentration of sensitive ions as well, but the increasing rate goes rather too slow; (3) the efficiency of the energy up-conversion relates with the speed of the energy up-conversion and the quantum efficiency of the transiting from upper level to lower level.     

Efficient high-power Ho:YAG laser directly in-band pumped by a GaSb-based laser diode stack at 1.9 μm

An efficient high-power Ho:YAG laser directly in-band pumped by a recently developed GaSb-based laser diode stack at 1.9 μm is demonstrated. At room temperature a maximum continuous wave output power of 55 W at 2.122 μm and a slope efficiency of 62% with respect to the incident pump power were achieved. For narrow linewidth laser operation a volume Bragg grating was used as output coupler. In wavelength stabilized operation a maximum output power of 18 W at 2.096 μm and a slope efficiency of 30% were obtained. In this case the linewidth is reduced from 1.2 nm to below 0.1 nm. Also spectroscopic properties of Ho:YAG crystals at room temperature are presented.